Sweetbitter

History and background

The novel was written while Danler was a waitress at Union Square Cafe and an MFA student at nearby university The New School. Later, while a waitress at Buvette, another restaurant in New York City, she met Peter Gethers, a publisher, and informed him that she had recently finished a book. After Gethers recommended the manuscript to a friend, Danler received a six-figure contract for two novels at Alfred A. Knopf. Danler is one of a cohort of authors to receive large contracts in exchange for multi-book deals. Others include Emma Cline and Imbolo Mbue.

Danler has stated that although she has much in common with Tess, the novel's protagonist, that Tess "quickly became a character, and is in many ways much better and much worse at life than I was at that age" and is not entirely based on her. She has also stated that the novel's other two central characters, Jake and Simone, are entirely fictional. Danler has compared writing her first novel to her experiences in the restaurant world.

Plot summary

The novel concerns Tess, a woman who moves from the Ohio to New York City, where she becomes a backwaitress without any other career goals. During her time in the city, Tess enters into a love triangle with two other employees at the restaurant at which she works: Jake, a bartender, and Simone, an older waitress, and learns a great deal about food.

Reception

Several reviews noted the expectations that preceded the book's publication. The novel was mostly well received, with some critics noting that the central characters (particularly Jake) were not fully fleshed out and the novel's overall lack of substance. However, others, such as Gabrielle Hamilton, writing for the New York Times praised the novel, saying the "faults of the book are few".

Vanity Fair referred to the novel as a "love letter" to Union Square Cafe. It was No. 32 on USA Today's bestseller's list.